I guess we all have our own definition for a classic machine but I was really floored when CCM introduced the Link Belt truck crane model as a classic. I actually called them at the time and suggested "more classic models" like all the ones everyone is talking about in this thread - P&H, Lima, American for starters for the "real classic truck cranes." CCM didn't seem to get it - the guy I talke to was convinced Link Belt was the "grand-daddy of truck cranes! I understand they were stuck for a long time with a bunch of the LB truck crane models. Too bad someone doesn't make a "classic truck crane" series! Where is Sword when you need them!

American 9490 in Phoenix. I heard there were only 2 built . I saw this at CONEXPO when it was new, it is a beast. It is very busy around town, mostly tilt-up work.

The crane of McHugh's on the Verazanno Bridge was a Insley as McHugh rented them along with Bay Citys and the Americans that is right from Jimmy McHugh who rented and hauled for American Bridge all the time . The rent on the Insley equalled the purchase price but they kept it on rent !!! The Transworld was started by AH&D engineers in St Paul but finished by Chuck Cornell who sold it to Jakes after being on the Salem Nuc plant job in NJ . Northwest you will be happy to know the Manitowoc hydraulic technology was based on the 100 DH /1500 Northwest crane when the engineers got laid off and went to Manitowoc to work !!! The picking fool was the 300 ton Lima in NJ American Steel Erectors used to day rent them from Hoffman , drove the to the job rigged with full counterweight and heel Back in some streaches of boom and a tip and go to work . Anither great crane is the 140 ton Link Belt , in NJ United can fold 100 ft boom and drive to the job assembled !!! John

And some pics to keep this great post alive
2 times a lima to proof that i like more than only american's ( those lima 's are real nice cranes)
OK and 1 american 9320 to keep my reputation alive

Eef

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***Flickr American cranes group***3D printed crane parts at Shapeways***3D printed crane parts at I.materialise

A nice Lorain, ancient but still running strong,again in Miami:


Kerst

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http://forums.dhsdiecast.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1096251

Poor old American, being stripped for parts.


Lorain truck crane erecting new powerline poles


Manitowoc 4000W in the dessert

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www.emielschoonen.nl

Greed isn't going anywhere. They should put that up on a billboard across Times Square!

The width of that boom base from P&H 6250 is unbelievable , very nice.
I was already wondering when you would start to post some nice pics Emiel.

2 X a 7260 and a 9260

Eef

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***Flickr American cranes group***3D printed crane parts at Shapeways***3D printed crane parts at I.materialise

The photos are great.

In the recent photo additions, the lone Link Belt looks like it belongs to Baltimore, MD based Potts & Callahan. They are one of the move diverse and longest surviving players in that market. Do excavating, paving and site work as well as recyling and demo.

The American being parted out is a great picture of the American built carrier. This came from what is today Tor's plant.

The Bragg machine is an 800 series American. This series was not built in a crawler machine to my knowledge. This started at 150 tons and went to about 175 and in the end actually overlapped in capacity some of the earliest 900 series truck machines. This was typical in much of American's product line. The 7260 100 ton crawler overlapped the earlier 900 series crawlers. Many of the 800's were owned by Bragg as well as Jake's in Las Vegas, NV. Jake's also owned a number of the large 900 truck machines. They also bulit the Trans World SL400 and breifly owned it. It then came out each to the power company and when they retired it, Jake's bought it back and refurbished it. It has been for sale periodically by them. You can see the lineage between it and an the final 125 ton American truck crane. I believe the 125 ton truck machine used a single engine and may have had hydraulic winches.

There was a large population of P&H machines in the Washington, DC - Baltimore, MD area. One of the largest was the former Tidwater. They were absorbed by Am-Quip but in the 70's owned six of the 140 ton P&H 9125s. I know they also had some of the 790TCs, (90 ton and 270' of boom and jib) and a 6250TC which was the truck machine in the area for years. Their competitor United had a crawler version of this machine. The United machine did much work for Potomac Electric Power Co. while the Tidewater machines moved between the Port of Baltimore and the Sparrow Point facilities of Bethlehem Steel. In Washington, DC Williams Equipment, now Williams Construction Services at one time had four of the 9125s but only two survive today and those are pieced together from the four. Likewise they as part of Williams Steel had a 90 ton 790TC and several Lima's There was a 70 ro 90 ton truck machine and a 150 ton crawler similar to that posted. Through their acquisition of Greenway in Baltimore they have several Grove HL150Ts, one with luff and one without, which are former DuPont and then W. O. Grubb machines. They also have a HL150C which succeeded the Lima 150. Newest latice machines are 248 series Link Belts of which one is a truck and one a crawler but there are mechanical issues with the crawler.

Sone of the American photos also show the four piece American counter weight which is indicative of a 9310, 9320 and 9480 truck machines. The 9480 of which yes Maxim has one of the few in Phoenix, which I saw at Conexpo when new and several years ago doing tilt up work in Phoenix is a rare machine. It would not surprise me if there were only two or so built in the old American Crane's final days. There may be, and I am basing this on advertising alone, a much earlier 300 ton American truck machine. If it existed, it involved McHugh again. The Crane Guide shows a production period that almost predates the 9520, 200 ton machine. I've also seen some spectacular boom lenghts that exceed anything that American ever advertised. This may be self-errecting versus non. I know the boom was capable of the 300 ton rating as it was later used by American in the 9480.

In reference to John's comments, I know that McHugh owned at least one Bay City and at the time it was purchased, it was the largest truck crane available in the market. This machine dates to their father's Bucks County Construction. I believe that he is correct regarding it also being the the Verrezano bridge job. I was not aware of the "Insley" link with McHugh and the bridge.

DC Craneman - What about Capitol Crane in DC? They had a bunch of P&H truck cranes. Models like the 255A-TC, 355A-TC, 555A-TC. Yes Potts & Callahan has some Link Belts - I remember hwen thay had a 4yd Lima shovel that excavated for Sinai Hospital. The two biggies in Baltimore were Arundel and CJ Langenfelder. Arundel had dam joint ventures all over the country - they had Manitowocs. And Langenfelder had everything - Lorains, P&H, Limas (6 2400's), lots of Bucyrus and even a Marion 111-M.

I do not know if the Potts and Callahan Link Belt was purchased new or not. If I were to guess, I would say yes as they tend to buy new and hold their equipment for some time. They have one of the larger contractor owned yard and maintenance complexes in the area.

C. J. Langefelder was also very large and did work farther afield from their Baltimore headquarters. They have some large contracts in support of the steel industry handling both raw materials and slag. I am familiar with the Arundel materials operations. Capital Crane had folded by the time I began watching the Washington, DC market. The market was dominantly P&H with some Lorain and a few Lima's among the steel erectors. In more recent years, it was Grove HL150s and then Link Belt in the lattice market.

You over the years have had dealers with significant rental operations. Hoffman in New Jersey was one. They I know were a P&H dealer. Gleason in Chicago was another representing P&H and Grove. They are now out of business. M. D. Moody in the south was another and represented American. I understand that they currently having financial trouble. All likewise has expanded its representation of Terex in the midwest. Some of the Kobelco crawler dealers are also rental companies. United Crane in Baltimore is an example.

Then there were and are the factory branches. You for many years had Manitowoc Forsythe in the
metro New York area and North Central Crane and Excavator in the Chicago area for Manitowoc. The Mid Atlantic Link Belt being a current one. I am sure that these are reasons Manitowocs were prevalent in those markets. American never did much in Chicago until Crane and Machinery Inc. took over from Gibbons as their dealer. I knew the founder of Crane and Machinery and he signficantly expanded their market. He also was instrumental in the construction of some specialty American 900s that were built for deep tunnel work and had oversized hoist drums which rose above the normal roof line of a 900. Since his sale of the company, Crane and Machinery has become much more and more a generic Terex truck crane dealer. I attribute this to both the competitiveness of the Terex small truck cranes in that market, the loss of his special knowledge knowledge of larger machines and Terex's repositioning of American relative to Demag and the changes in distribution of the continuing product.

Manitowoc continues to rely on a dealer structure although with fewer and more regional dealers. Link belt continues to rely on dealers. Liebherr is a factory brach structure company. Terex has continued dealers for Terex but seemlngly has move towards more of a factory environment for Terex-Demag. The path for Terex-American is not clear although is being marketed as the smaller machine line. American stops at 250 or 275 with the new "American" picture being one of the largest. The Terex-Demag crawlers now start at 300 or 330 US tons. I would have to study the differences between the CC1500, CC1800 and CC2000 more closely. The CC1500 is not a match to the Manitowoc 2250 in ease and stability at which it handles it loads. I've likewise been told that the former is true of the Link Belt 248 series versus the now discontinued Manitowoc 888 Series I